Ribopharma AG strengthens Scientific Advisory Board

Kulmbach (February 11, 2003) - Ribopharma AG, a biopharmaceutical company developing RNA interference- (RNAi-) based therapeutics, announced today the appointments of Professors John Rossi, Ronald Plasterk and David Baulcombe to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). 

This further strengthens the board that includes Professors Ulrich Bogdahn, Director of the Neurological Clinic at the University of Regensburg; Herwig Brunner, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface and Bioprocess Engineering, Stuttgart; Fritz Eckstein, formerly at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Goettingen; and Klaus Pfizenmaier, Director, Institute for Cell Biology and Immunology, University of Stuttgart.

Professor John Rossi, Chair of the Division of Molecular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope Hospital, has been involved in the field of RNA-based therapeutics since its inception in the mid 1980s. His work has led to several important developments in the area and he recently received a 10 year Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health for his research on anti-HIV-1 RNAs.

Professor Ronald Plasterk, Institute Director, Hubrecht Laboratory / Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology, Utrecht, Netherlands, is a molecular geneticist. His research group has made a number of significant contributions to the molecular understanding of the mechanism of RNAi and its functionality. Professor Plasterk is also Editor of the journals Pharmacogenetics and Comparative and Functional Genomics.

Professor David Baulcombe, Head of the Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich, is a geneticist and molecular biologist. His laboratory has made several key advances in RNAi research and was one of the first to show the technology's potential for antiviral protection in plants. Their findings have opened up many lines of investigation into the mechanisms and applications of RNAi in plants and animals.

"We are delighted to welcome these eminent scientists to our SAB", said Dr Roland Kreutzer, CEO of Ribopharma. "Ribopharma now has an outstanding group of scientific advisors who bring complementary expertise to our RNAi development programmes."

309 words/2,149 characters

About Ribopharma
Ribopharma is developing RNAi-based therapeutics that use short lengths of double-stranded RNA. This is important because although using longer stretches of RNA has also been shown to inhibit gene translation, it has also been shown to cause a toxic response in mammalian cells. Short lengths of RNA have not been shown to cause this adverse response. Ribopharma currently employs 24 people, including 12 PhDs, and occupies a 800 m2 research and development facility in Kulmbach, Bavaria, in Germany. Further information: www.ribopharma.de

Contact:
Ribopharma AG
Dr Roland Kreutzer
Tel: +49 9221/82762-0
Fax: +49-9221/82762-99 
eMail: kreutzer@ribopharma.de 

Fritz-Hornschuch-Str. 9
D-95326 Kulmbach, Germany
Web: www.ribopharma.de 

© BIOCOMMUNICATIONS.net GmbH, Brunnenstr. 128, D-13355 Berlin, Germany - Thank you in advance for supplying copy